1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rotary compressor which can be used, but not restrictively, as a refrigerant compressor of a vehicular air conditioning system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the conventional rotary refrigerant compressor, the lubricant groove in one of the end plates of the compressor housing tends to be sealed from the lubricant supply source when the compressor is started with a result that pressure drop takes place behind the inner ends of vanes slidably received in the vane grooves in the rotor and thus the vanes do not quickly move outwardly from the rotor as the latter is rotated. For this reason, the radially outer ends of the vanes are not kept in intimate sealing engagement with the inner peripheral surface of the housing during rotation of the rotor, so that the compressor falls short of satisfactorily compressing the refrigerant.